<p>No, I mean, does Bing automatically accept BHSEC kids with a 3.0? Is that what you were talking about when you said your school has a relationship with Bing. Thanks. (for others, Bard doesn’t automatically accept BHSEC kids. There would be too many.)</p>
<p>Too bad about HEOP. And since you are consdered a CUNY transfrer, does that mean you couldn’t/can’t apply to the Mccaulay Honors Prgm? </p>
<p>Also, be aware that because of your early college program (Bard?) SUNY schools may likewise considered you as transfer, especially if you want all or most of those 60 credits to count towards your degree. Moreover, since most SUNYs are residential, entering as a transfer can have signif implications for housing (incoming frosh are usually guaratee housing, transfers are not). </p>
<p>As for “reasonable debt,” I believe the more you need the money, the less debt you should incur - -since your family doesn’t have the resources to help out if you are unemployed. And you don’t want aggregate debrt (underg plud grad/prof school) so great that you’ll still be paying it off in your 40s. I would advise against undergrad debt in excess of the fed loan maximum which is approx $22K - - and student loans cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.</p>
<p>Packages from the schools that meet full need structure the finaid packages so that need is met first with self-help (loans and work-study) and the balance in grants. You save a few thousand dollars a year ($10-12K over 4 years) at schools that meet full need AND cap debt below the federal max. You already have some of the full-need/laon-cap schools on your list, but if money is a serious concern, I’d add a couple more full-need schools, even if they don’t cap loans below the federal limt. </p>
<p>Have you considered any of the women’s colleges? Wellesley is full-need and caps below the federal mas. Smith is full-need and caps loans at the federal max (als has its own engineering prgm). Mt Holyoke is somewhat less competitive, but that would give you a shot at one of their top awards. And while no school will give you aid in excess of need, merit $$ can be substituted for the loan portion of a need-based finaid package. </p>
<p>The paradox: elite schools offer the best need-based finaid packages - - but you have to get admitted; OTOH, you are more likely to get large merit awards from less competive schools. Match schools may not offer great need-based aid, and you won’t be a strong enough candidate to get large merit scholarships. Seems like you list is fine in terms of the elite school. Maybe add a few full-need match schools (please consider the women’s colleges) and some lesser schools (maybe in the south, where you will also be attractive as adding dome geog diversity) where you will be in the top 10% of the applicant pool.</p>
<p>I agree w/ Sybbie, consider adding Dartmouth.</p>
<p>There is an unspoken rule that if our college GPA is above a 3.0 we will be accepted into Bing.</p>
<p>As for Bard they accept 83% of our students (but generally only 2 or 3 enroll so it isn’t much of a problem)</p>
<p>Yes I know many SUNYs consider me as a transfer but they allow me to enroll as a freshmen and count my credits after I have enrolled.</p>
<p>That’s the point of this whole post. I am trying to find full-need match schools. At this point I don’t even care where they are. Any more concrete ideas about what schools would fit in that category?</p>
<p>have you looked at the project on student debt</p>
<p>[Project</a> on Student Debt: Summary of Pledges: Eligibilty Guidelines and Basic Provisions](<a href=“http://projectonstudentdebt.org/Type_and_Coverage.vp.html]Project”>http://projectonstudentdebt.org/Type_and_Coverage.vp.html)</p>
<p>Thanks for the link @sybbie, this will surely come in handy!</p>
<p>SUNY Geneseo</p>
<p>Please remember that “an unspoken rule” is not a guarantee. And, while many of the schools on Sybbie’s list are no-loan or cap loans below the federal max, they are very competive - so they are a good deal if you get admitted, but odds of getting admitted are low. Most of the pvt schools will also use CSS, which may result in a signif higher contribution than your FAFSA-EFC.</p>
<p>One of the finaid threads has a list of schools that meet full need. Search for that thread/link and look for schools on that list which would be match schools for you.</p>
<p>Just checked the USN&WR list of schools that meet 100% of need and there are a number of schools that would be an admissions match for you - - and even a few, like Gettysburg, which are match/safety.</p>
<p>NYC brings up an excellent point as also one of my concerns is that your list is rather top heavy. </p>
<p>I think that you need to add a few for match schools that meet 100% demonstrated need. While you may be a URM with good stats, there will be URMs in the pool with better stats. I had a URM student (low income, first gen)with slightly better stats than yours who got shut out of the Ivies last year. She is now a happy freshman at an LAC.</p>
<p>I would put Howard on the list because they do have an early action application. Your stats would put you in a position for a capstone scholarship that would provide tuition, fees and room (nothing wrong with having a match/safety that will also be an affordable options).</p>
<p>[Grants</a>, Scholarships & Fellowships - Howard University](<a href=“http://www.howard.edu/financialaid/grants_scholarships.htm#Freshman]Grants”>http://www.howard.edu/financialaid/grants_scholarships.htm#Freshman)</p>
<p>I think having a 3000 EFC based on an income of 72k is a little off. Does your father collect any kind of income (unemployment, SSI, etc)? I think that you need to sit down with your parents and run the financial aid calculators for each school that you are interested in attending. While U or R may be an admissions match, I doubt that they are a financial safety based on your statement that your parents can only afford 3k. Based on the criteria that you have set I do not think that any school on your list is a financial safety. </p>
<p>Even among schools that meet 100% demonstrated need, all financial aid packages are not created equal. In out house the rage was over 10k for 7 different CSS profile, meets 100% demonstrated need schools. When it comes to insitutional aid, no 2 schools calculate things the same. Some schools do not include home equity, some schools cap home equity as a percentage of income while others believe that all of the home equity can be used to pay for college. </p>
<p>As someone lese mentioned I would place a couple of womens colleges (mount holyoke, smith and bryn mawr) on the list because they offer merit in need.</p>
<p>I agree that the EFC can’t be $3k for a $72K income. It should be nearer to $18K.</p>
<p>That’s is what the FASFA-4-Caster said it would be. 72,000$ is for a family of 8 which is a large family in my opinion (and that does factor into determining aid) and one of my sisters are in college so therefore my EFC is split in half. My father collects nothing. 72,000 dollars is the only amount of money we have flowing in. And if you check out say the guidelines for free and reduced lunch, for a family of 8 the cap is at 69,616$, I am off by a couple thousand so I do qualify for some form of need, and again to top it off my sister is in college so that makes it even better.</p>
<p>I guess I will still have to think about womens college because well I am in a school where 70% are female and it is just not working out too well for me. And I am not interested in a historically black college, they do not seem very appealing to me.</p>
<p>What do you guys think about schools such as Dickinson, Lafayette, Holy Cross, Colby? The problem with liberal arts schools for me is that they may be too small and they don’t have engineering, which I am slightly interested in and would like to explore.</p>
<p>What type of engineering are you interested in? Union College in Schenectady has mechanical & electrical engineering. Your stats would be a good match, and they say they meet 100% of need.</p>
<p>I am interested in BME and aside from that I am also interested in Molecular Biology and Genetics in general. I have looked at Union the only problem is that I am afraid that it will not be diverse enough for my likings.</p>
<p>A FAFSA-EFC of $6K ($3K for each of 2 kids in college) still seems low. And as others have posted your CSS-EFC will likely be higher - - even if you D contribs nothing, b/c the CSS forms will still want to know his income (otherwise there is an incentive for non-custodial parents who otherwise would give financial support to withhold same or deny providing same in an effort to get more need-based aid).</p>
<p>Lafayette and Colby are great schools, but high match schools. Dickinson and Union may be match schools. (Not sure whether Holy Cross is a match or high match.) And, while you HBCU or women’s college might not be your first choice, they may be among your most affordable options.</p>
<p>A 3.7 GPA from this school is extremely good. When you call something a match school, nyc, maybe you aren’t taking this in to account?</p>
<p>I, too, am from NYC. and I would say OP attends a good school. I might not go so far as to say “extreemly” good. But that’s me (and I’m factoring in all of the truly incredible schools in NYC, including private schools, some of which are remarkably diverse racially and graduating URM students w/ stats that would make your head spin) - - and Lord knows NYers can go on for days, splitting hairs on this subject.</p>
<p>Anyway, she’s already got some reach schools on the list, so what 's the harm in being a little bit conservative/cautious with the “math” schools? Is it really a big deal that Union is a match, or even a low-match, as opposed to a high-match?</p>
<p>Finally, I would advise OP to be a bit more flexible. As she is only, “slightly interested in and would like to explore” engineering, she ought not be so quick to cross off schools just b/c they don’t offer a major in an area where her interest is entirely untested.</p>
<p>Hmm I’ll stir clear of debating whether or not my school is just good or " extremely" good, because I would obviously have my biased opinions. I am not looking for an analysis of whether a school is a match or high match because well for majority of theses so called matches, I have an extremely high chance of getting into just for the simple fact that they love BHSEC students and to top it off I am a minority so truly the icing on the cake. My main concern is making a list that is financially smart, I’ve been battling this problem for six months now, but many of you guys have put things into a better perspective for me. </p>
<p>As for limiting myself, no I am not looking solely for engineering schools but I would like the option of knowing my school has engineering when I do make my major choice. I do, however, have to say that HBCU are simply out of the question.</p>
<p>Would you guys recommend me to apply to any public schools in the hopes of recieving merit aid? </p>
<p>Also would you guys recommend me to specific outside scholarships that may give me a significant amount of money?</p>
<p>Lastly, do you guys think I should take off any schools on my list for the simple fact that I won’t be able to afford it due to poor financial aid policies on the schools part?</p>
<p>New list:
Amherst
Swarthmore
Dickinson
UPitt
Rice
URochester
Vanderbilt
Lafayette
Bing</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I think that the point that NYC and foolishpleasure are trying to make and I totally agree with is that URM students are bringing their A game to the table.
While you may have a good profile I would not say that you are a lock for any school because you are a URM. There are going to be URMs fromothe top NYC high schools, prep schools, Westchester and Long Island coming to the table. Even in the URM pool, there will be a lot of young black women (it is the black men that are truly underrepresented in the college/grad school population. </p>
<p>About your list; I would reconsider Rochester and Pitt who may not give you the package that you need (as recently as last year, I had a black male with better stats who got big loans in his packages from them - he went to Hopkins). Even you are pooh-poohing the Womens Colleges, I am still recommending that Barnard on the list (you can cross register at Columbia) and Mawr (which is part of the tri-college exchange with Swat and you can x-register for some courses at Penn).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Again, I would not be so quick to pooh-pooh this. Speaking as a former HR person, when it comes to minority recruiting (especially in engineering) companies looking to recruit young AA talent are going straight to the HBCUs because they know that they are going to be there. Again, consider Howard, which could be a financial safety (if you apply early enough) and Spelman which has an extensive list of schools where you study for a term or a year.</p>
<p>Did you apply for Questbridge or were you recommended for Posse?</p>
<p>Consider browsing through this thread</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/468512-revival-middle-class-black-posters.html?highlight=revival+the+middle[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/468512-revival-middle-class-black-posters.html?highlight=revival+the+middle</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1175279-african-american-parents.html?highlight=revival+the+middle[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1175279-african-american-parents.html?highlight=revival+the+middle</a></p>
<p>In our experience, Rochester is not financially generous at all, unless you like lots of loans. S did their “preliminary” financial aid calculator where they sent in real mail an estimate of aid and it was a lot of loans and a lot expected of us.</p>